Ruling on Ocean Choice injunction Monday

Ocean Choice has filed an injunction with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland asking it to instruct workers to allow the company onto its property.

Ocean Choice International will have to wait out the weekend to find out if the Supreme Court will let it in its shuttered Marystown fish plant.

Former workers at the plant have maintained a picket since early December, when the company announced it would be closing the plant - along with one in Port Union - for good, putting 240 people in the area out of work.

Workers have been holding a 24-hour picket to prevent the company from getting in to remove its equipment. In late December, workers stopped a plant manager and a transport truck from entering the property.

On Friday in St. John's, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador heard arguments from the company and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers after the company filed an injunction that would order workers to let Ocean Choice gain access to its plant.

People on both sides of the court case are waiting for Supreme Court Justice Deborah Fry's decision, which is expected to be given Monday afternoon.

Ocean Choice CEO Martin Sullivan declined to comment on the court proceedings, saying only that the injunction is so the company can gain access to its own property.

"We're going to wait until Monday before we say anything," Sullivan said Friday afternoon.

Similarly, Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers' union that represents the former workers, declined to comment Friday afternoon.

"We made our representation to the court. I'm really reluctant to wade into that," he said.

"We had legal counsel defend us. My understanding now is the judge has put it off until Monday afternoon for her decision, so I don't think there's anything I can say that'll help us in that regard, so my best bet is to stay out of it and let legal counsel's submissions stand and see what happens on Monday."

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port union plant worker

January 20, 2012 - 10:36

Charles.Did you see the secretive contract reached between oci and gov? If you are ,your must be a cabinet minister ,because no one else has seen it, except of coarse Loyola Sullivan..Why don't you say something meaningfull,and tell OCI to leave the insurance money with the peaple of port union,so they can clean up and repair their plant. Don't go spewing off sillyness ,you know nothing about

it is so wasteful for the Supreme Court to hear this matter. The property owners want to remove any and all assets from the plant, and forget Marystown like a bad memory. And they are right for doing so.
Soon OCI will take any and everything of value out of the plant, and take their insurance money and invest it in a more profitable venture, and then they will shortly forget where Marystown is. But what is clear is that the former workers are showing the rest of Canada what happens when the workers don't get their way, the police do nothing when the workers deny the property owners the ability to do what they want with their property. I'll be sure to share this with everyone I know to ensure that they do not ever set up an operation in this city. Why would a property owner set themselves up for this? I simply will be prudent to set up shop elsewhere.

OCI got the right to close any of there plant's,and remove what ever equipment they may,if the live up to there agreement with the Government,My understanding, OCI did.But that don't mean Marystown and Port Union have to die, Just because the fishery is gone.
Now is the time to get after our Leader,to put people back to work, So start calling Ms Michael and Mr Ball, don't take NO for a answer. Because I was in Marystown and Port Union, Looking over the SITUATION, talking to some of the people in your community,all is not LOST,JUST NEED LEADERSHIP.